A Riverside man who sold a fentanyl-laced pill is liable for $5.8 million in the death of the 20-year-old woman to whom he sold it.
Matt Capelouto has sought justice for his 20-year-old daughter, Alexandra, since her death in 2019, initially winning a civil lawsuit for wrongful death against the dealer and now securing the judgment in bankruptcy court.
“We are no longer, as a society, going to tolerate drug dealers killing our children,” the father said.
Brandon McDowell has been behind bars since 2022 with a fentanyl possession conviction.
“He will be a free man in the year 2030, but he will not be free financially, because we are going to make sure if this man ever owns any property, these attorneys have already said, we will put a lien on that property, we will garnish his wages,” said Capelouto.
Baruch Cohen, the Capeloutos’ lawyer, said this was the first time a drug dealer has been held liable civilly for someone’s death, to his knowledge.
“Here’s the hope that this judgment will be the shot that’s heard around the world, so to speak,” Cohen said. “Because if it inhibits another drug deal from going down, where the drug dealer … realizes that besides the jail sentence, he is liable for millions of dollars of damages, maybe he’ll think twice.”